Bioprospecting in the Arctic - UNU-IAS - United Nations University

the pattern of research activities in the Arctic and in
particular around the Norwegian territory of Svalbard
mirrors patterns of research activity in Antarctica. That
is to say that there is a strong emphasis on collaborative
research by teams of international researchers in the
Arctic. For example, there are a number of foreign
research stations based in Svalbard. These include the
British research station Harland House, the Italian
research station Dirigibile Italia, the Korean Arctic
Station at Ny-Ålesund, the Chinese Yellow River research
station, the Polish Polar research Station at Polar Bear
Bay (Isbjørnhamna), Hornsund fjord and the Russian
research facility at the Barentsburg Observatory. This is
in addition to the numerous ship-based researchers who
pass through this area each year.
As in Antarctica, research at these stations covers a
wide range of scientific interests. However, Norwegian
researchers are not the only ones interested in
bioprospecting in and around Svalbard and a number of
these research stations are currently engaged in research
that might be characterised as bioprospecting. For
example, the Korean Polar Research Institute has carried
out research on bioactive metabolites from Arctic
organisms with potential for developing new treatments
for leukemia, as well as research on Arctic micro-
organisms with potential in developing new anti-biotics
and for developing new industrial enzymes. 124 Similarly
Korean researchers at the Dasan Station on Svalbard
have carried out research on the development of novel
substances from Arctic Biota involving the isolation
and identification of the Arctic microorganisms around
Kongsfjorden. 125
Polish researchers have carried out research on
the biotechnology potential of micro-organisms in
soil and snow from Svalbard. 126 Similarly in 2003
researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical
Engineering IMBT in Germany examined cold loving
bacteria from Arctic snowfields for possible enzymes
with uses in temperature sensitive processes such as
milk processing. 127 Researchers from the Fraunhofer
Institute have also conducted research on snow and
soil algae from Arctic and Antarctic environments as
well as screening several algal strains for their suitability
for an industrial scale production of carotinoids and
other secondary metabolites such as vitamin E in
photobioreactors. 128
From 2007, researchers from India will also explore
the biotechnology potential of microbes from the
Spitsbergen archipelago. 129
Box 5: ThE MABCENT INITIATIvE AND BIoPRoSPECTINg IN ThE NoRWEgIAN ARCTIC
One of the main centres for bioprospecting activities in the Norwegian Arctic is based in Tromsø. The MabCent
initiative is a newly launched consortium between the Norwegian Research Council, the University of Tromsø and
four Norwegian biotechnology companies: Lytix Biopharma; ProBio Group Holdings; Biotec Pharmacon ASA; and
Pronova Biopharma (previously known as Pronova Biocare) (See Table 3). 130
MabCent is one of 14 Centres for Research-based innovation that have been established in Norway and it aims to
‘bring marine bioactives from the deep waters of the Arctic to the pharmaceutical and other high value markets’. 131
This research will be aided by the technology platforms of MarBank (a national Marine Biobank), MarBio (a high
throughput screening program), NoStruct (the Norwegian Structural biology Center), SmallSruct (a research
programme on proteins and small molecules) and the FUGE programme mentioned above. 132
A total of NOK 180 million (approximately US$32,560,000) has been committed to the MabCent initiative by the
Norwegian Research Council, the University of Tromsø and the associated biotechnology companies. Approximately
25% of this funding has been provided by the commercial partners. 133
The MabCent consortium will ‘focus on the discovery of molecules with novel properties extracted from cold
adapted algae, bacteria and benthic … invertebrates, including crustaceans, molluscs, annelids and sponges’. 134
The main research interest lies in the potential development of pharmaceuticals in the broad areas of antibiotics,
anti-cancer drugs, anti-inflamatory drugs, diabetes and obesity, anti-oxidents and immunostimulants. 135 Biological
samples for these activities are being sampled from the waters of the northern Norwegian coast and the waters
north of Svalbard. 136
During the International Polar Year (IPY) there are also
a number of collaborative scientific research projects
underway that include research on the biotechnology
potential of the Arctic. The IPY is a large scientific
research program focussed on the Arctic and Antarctica
that runs from March 2007 to March 2009. 137 This is
the fourth polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3,
and 1957-8. The IPY involves over 200 scientific research
project around the world, with thousands of scientists
from over 60 nations examining a wide range of
physical, biological and social topics.
During the IPY the Project on Polar microbial diversity:
exploration, function and exploitation or POMIDIV is
examining, inter alia, the biotechnology potential of
microorganisms from both the Arctic and Antarctica
for use in biotechnology including potential for
new enzymes and compounds with pharmaceutical
applications. 138 The Arctic component of this research
will focus on areas including northern Ellesmere Island
in Canada, the Arctic Sea, Greenland and Svalbard. 139
Researchers involved in this project include researchers
from Belgium, Canada, the United Kingdom and
Australia. 140
19